A city-wide power outage almost canceled the sold-out America250PA concert June 6 at Erie Insurance Arena at 809 French St.
From the evening of June 5 throughout June 6, the city of Erie experienced a widespread power outage with more than 8,200 without power as of 11 a.m.
“Ultimately the power was going on and off,” Cassandra Coleman, executive director of America250PA said. “There was even a 20-minute period where the power was off completely at the arena. A little bit of an ‘oh no’ moment as we were loading in all of the equipment.”
The power flickering could have damaged any plugged-in equipment, “So we turned off equipment while we worked with the mayor and her office and the county executive’s office to figure out the situation. No one was sure when the power would be fully restored,” Coleman added.
More: Erie County is celebrating America250PA with music, fireworks and more
WMT Spaeder answers the call to Erie Insurance Arena
That morning, WMT Spaeder, a mechanical and electrical contracting service at 1602 E. 18th St., was experiencing a heavy call volume with over 1,000 calls. Many of which were in the area of the arena.
“Our team got a call on Saturday morning saying how most of the city was experiencing outages,” Morgan Durant, marketing and communications manager for WMT Spaeder said. “The power was super unstable at the Erie Insurance Arena and kept flickering on and off.”
With the help of Cleveland Brothers, WMT Spaeder was able to install generators quickly.
“We provided one 125 kW generator and one 330 kW generator to support the venue’s temporary power needs,” Durant said. “In addition, Wm. T. Spaeder (donated) the use of both generators to help ensure the event could move forward despite the power challenges experienced throughout the day.”
Durant continued, “Dale White was the project manager that headed this up and he was the one who notified us that they had over 1,000 calls,” Durant said. “At the arena it was White and five other employees assisting him. There was a lot going on but this isn’t something new for our company.”
The generators were fully operational before the concert began so that the event could move forward without ongoing power issues.
“Talk about stepping up when needed most to ensure the community could enjoy the show and create memories from the celebration,” Coleman said. “They (WMT Spaeder) allowed us to continue the show. To WMT Spaeder, thank you for allowing their neighbors and community members to attend this show. This is just one of those shining examples of a great company in Erie.”
What if the power had not been restored for the America250PA concert?
Had WMT Spaeder or any other company not been able to assist with the power outage issues, Coleman said that the concert would have been canceled.
Coleman said that since the concert was a rain or shine scenario, they wouldn’t have had a reschedule date.
“The backup plan was to keep our fingers crossed,” Coleman said. “Ultimately we had a generator to ensure that everyone was safe. There was not enough power to keep the show on. There was a generator there to keep on the house lights and have the audience evacuate if needed safely but we wouldn’t be able to keep the show going.”
The show was able to go on without any power issues and America250PA representatives were pleased with the results.
More: Your complete guide to America’s 250th birthday in Erie
“Thank you to all who made this show possible like the community leaders,” Coleman said. “Thank you to the Erieites who came out to celebrate. The Fray couldn’t stop talking about the energy that was in the room. First to Eleven brought down the house with their first arena show. It’s amazing to think about.”
Contact Nicholas Sorensen at Nsorensen@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: WMT Spaeder helped America250PA concert happen with donated generators